Call to determine impact of single market on children

Date: 10/07/1997

By Leyla Linton

MEPs and youth campaigners are calling on the European Commission to study the impact of the single market on the EU's 120 million children.

The move comes amid fears that the creation of a barrier-free Europe may be having adverse effects on youngsters.

British Socialist Lyndon Harrison and other MEPs are calling on Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti to establish a child impact assessment system in order to monitor the affect of single market policies on the young.

Harrison, the European Parliament's rapporteur on the internal market warns that, if wrongly handled, the system could pose dangers to children. “I am for the single market, but it can be beneficial or detrimental and we need to have a wake-up call every time we pass legislation. I am such a zealot about it that I can see where we need to be careful and avoid excluding people,” he said.

The MEP warns that the free movement of people risks uprooting children and raises issues of differences in education, training and child benefit. He fears it could lead to more divorces, separations and single-parent families, leaving children vulnerable because of differences between laws on custody arrangements and maintenance payments.

At worst, says Harrison, increased mobility and lack of cross-border controls is “fertile ground for criminals”. He claims that differences between member states' child protection services and the lack of EU-wide police coordination allows child abusers to evade vetting procedures.

The harmonisation of value added tax will also have an impact on children. Currently, some member states exempt school meals, food or clothing from VAT and Harrison argues that imposing the duty uniformly could lead to poverty.

He also highlights the lack of a legal status for children in the EU's treaties, pointing to the discrepancy in recognising animals as “sentient beings” in the new Amsterdam Treaty while not guaranteeing children certain rights.